Authorization Cheat Sheet — Deny by Default

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions). Even when no access control rules are explicitly matched, the application cannot remain neutral when an entity is requesting access to a particular resource. The application must always make a decision, whether implicitly or explicitly, to either deny or permit the requested access. Logic errors and other mistakes relating to access control may happen, especially when access requirements are complex; consequently, one should not rely entirely on explicitly defined rules for matching all possible requests. For security purposes an application should be configured to deny access by default. Consider the following points and best practices Adopt a "deny-by-default" mentality both during initial development and whenever new functionality or resources are exposed by the app. One should be able to explicitly justify why a specific permission was granted to a particular user or group rather t Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, removed long code blocks, and shortened it for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.